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Homocysteine and cognitive decline in healthy elderly
McCaddon A, Hudson P, Davies G, Hughes A, Williams JH, Wilkinson C.. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders, 2001-09-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Serum homocysteine is increased, and correlates inversely with cognitive scores, in Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia and "age-associated memory impairment". Elevated levels might signal accelerated cognitive decline, although this remains to be established. We therefore repeated Mini-Mental State Examinations, together with additional ADAS-Cog assessments, in 32 healthy elderly individuals to determine whether prior homocysteine levels predicted cognitive changes over a 5-year period.
Key findings
- Elevated levels might signal accelerated cognitive decline, although this remains to be established.
- We therefore repeated Mini-Mental State Examinations, together with additional ADAS-Cog assessments, in 32 healthy elderly individuals to determine whether prior homocysteine levels predicted cognitive changes over a 5-year period.
- Homocysteine predicted follow-up cognitive scores and rate of decline in cognitive performance independently of age, sex, education, renal function, vitamin B status, smoking and hypertension (p < 0.001).
- Homocysteine predicted word recall (p = 0.01), orientation (p = 0.02) and constructional praxis scores (p < 0.0001).
Why it matters
This study measured homocysteine levels and repeated cognitive tests over 5 years in 32 healthy elderly individuals to see whether prior homocysteine levels predicted cognitive changes. It found that homocysteine predicted follow-up cognitive scores and rate of decline, but it is an observational study and does not show that lowering homocysteine treats, cures, or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders: journal h-index 149 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2001 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 210 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.8 citations a year over 27 year(s) since 2001 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Clare Wilkinson: h-index 41 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Wales: institution h-index 571 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11455131) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
McCaddon, A., Hudson, P., Davies, G., Hughes, A., Williams, J. H., & Wilkinson, C. (2001). Homocysteine and cognitive decline in healthy elderly. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. https://doi.org/10.1159/000051275
Vancouver
McCaddon A, Hudson P, Davies G, Hughes A, Williams JH, Wilkinson C. Homocysteine and cognitive decline in healthy elderly. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. 2001. doi:10.1159/000051275. PMID: 11455131.
BibTeX
@article{mccaddon2001-11455131,
author = {McCaddon, A. and Hudson, P. and Davies, G. and Hughes, A. and Williams, J. H. and Wilkinson, C.},
title = {{Homocysteine and cognitive decline in healthy elderly}},
journal = {Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders},
year = {2001},
doi = {10.1159/000051275},
pmid = {11455131},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1159/000051275}
}
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